HOMOSEXUALITY, POLITICS, AND THE CHURCH

November 16, 2004by: jovial_cynic

It seems like most Christians are against any sort of legal allowance for homosexual marriages and the such, on account that homosexuality is condemned in scripture.

Bearing in mind that the Old Testament Laws were given to the Israelites, and that the New Testament letters were written specifically for believers, why are Christians today so concerned about legislation that allows a sinful world of non-believers to do what they're going to do anyway?

Paul's letters condemning homosexuality were written during the height of the Roman empire, when homosexuality was much more common than it is today. Every older man of status had a young man for the sole purpose of sex. That's how it was. When Paul writes to the churches, he tells the believers to be in the world, and not of the world, and to abstain from the practices of the heathens, in the same way that the Old Testament Jews were told to not conform to the lawless ways of the surrounding nations.

But never in Paul's letters is there a call to change the governing system, or to infiltrate politics to make the world a more "christian-friendly" environment. Paul doesn't tell the believers to create social agendas that protect the Christian way of life. In fact, during a time of slavery (gasp!), Paul tells a young runaway slave to return to his master.

So why do Christians feel it is their responsibility to "rock the vote" on political issues? I know that a lot of Christians dream of a future time when there are lots of Christians in politics, and we'll live in a virtual theocracy... but keep in mind that the theocracy that GOD himself established for Israel fell apart because of sin. What makes anybody think that by infiltrating the political scene, Christians will do any better?